Slow Step
Encyclopedia
is a romantic comedy
boxing
and softball
manga
by Mitsuru Adachi
. It was serialized by Shogakukan
in the shōjo
manga magazine Ciao
from September 1986 through March 1991, and collected in seven tankōbon
volumes. In 1991, it was adapted as a five-episode OVA
. The anime version has some differences from the manga, including the ending.
The story follows Minatsu, a popular high-school girl, as she deals with the unwanted romantic attentions of multiple boys and a teacher. Her plans for evading their pursuit grow increasingly convoluted, even involving taking on alternate identities.
Ayako Sawamura
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Bunkoban
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Ending theme
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Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
and softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
by Mitsuru Adachi
Mitsuru Adachi
is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from Gunma Prefectural Maebashi Commercial High School in 1969, Adachi worked as an assistant for Isami Ishii. He made his manga debut in 1970 with Kieta Bakuon, based on a manga originally created by Satoru Ozawa...
. It was serialized by Shogakukan
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...
in the shōjo
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...
manga magazine Ciao
Ciao (magazine)
is a Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Shogakukan for young girls . The first issue was launched in 1977. As of 2009, the circulation was 815,455. Formerly, the magazine attached paper crafts, but now attaches various goods that are different every month...
from September 1986 through March 1991, and collected in seven tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes. In 1991, it was adapted as a five-episode OVA
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
. The anime version has some differences from the manga, including the ending.
The story follows Minatsu, a popular high-school girl, as she deals with the unwanted romantic attentions of multiple boys and a teacher. Her plans for evading their pursuit grow increasingly convoluted, even involving taking on alternate identities.
Characters
/- A student at Asaoka High School and pitchingPitcherIn baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
ace for the softballSoftballSoftball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
club. She is the object of affection of both her classmate Shū Akiba and Coach Yamazakura. As her disguised alter egoAlter egoAn alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
Maria Sudō, she evades some local gangsters and is pursued by Naoto Kadomatsu, who lives in the same apartment building. Her father is a lesser-known pro wrestler. She tends to be curt and somewhat rough in her manners. In the anime, she falls for and marries Yamazakura sensei. Her favorite phrases include and .
- A boy in the same class as Minatsu and a member of the Asaoka High School boxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
club. His father is a company president and he has a light-hearted, somewhat irresponsible personality. He is in love with Minatsu, and in rivalry with Naoto Kadomatsu joins the boxing club, working hard to try to beat him in order to win Minatsu's affection.
- A third-year student at Jōsei High School and a member of its boxing club. He lives in the same apartment building as Minatsu but attends a different school, in a different grade. He is a high school boxing champion. He falls in love at first sight with Minatsu's alter egoAlter egoAn alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
Maria, and becomes Shū's rival in boxing and in trying to win Minatsu's affections after learning that Maria and Minatsu are the same person.
- A teacherTeacherA teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
at Asaoka High School and advisor to both the softball and boxing clubs. While in college, he worked toward becoming a professional boxer but gave up this dream after his sister died, in order to take care of his sister's daughter, Chika. He has a preoccupation with the female behindButtocksThe buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
, and frequently gives unwanted attentionSexual harassmentSexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
to female students at the school. At the end of the anime series, he and Minatsu are married.
Ayako Sawamura
- A rough, aloof girl who is the only person who can catch Minatsu's pitching. She has a crush on Coach Yamazakura, and manages to date him by agreeing to join the softball club. After she is rejected by Yamazakura, she takes a hiatus from softball but soon returns for the team rather than for Yamazakura. She ends up with new teacher, Somei, who falls for her once she founds out that she is one of the only women who he is not deathly afraid of other than his mother.
- Yamazakura's orphanOrphanAn orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
ed niece. Even though she's an elementary schoolElementary schoolAn elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
student, she is very reliable and cooks nearly every meal for Yamazakura. She really likes Minatsu and hopes she and Yamazakura get together eventually.
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Manga
TankōbonTankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
- Volume 1 (20 May 1987, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, ISBN 4-09-132521-1)
- Volume 2 (20 December 1987, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, ISBN 4-09-132522-X)
- Volume 3 (20 October 1988, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, ISBN 4-09-132523-8)
- Volume 4 (20 May 1989, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, ISBN 4-09-132524-6)
- Volume 5 (20 April 1990, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, ISBN 4-09-132525-4)
- Volume 6 (20 November 1990, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, ISBN 4-09-132526-2)
- Volume 7 (20 August 1991, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, ISBN 4-09-132527-0)
Bunkoban
- Volume 1 (August 1995, Shogakukan, ISBN 4091910610)
- Volume 2 (August 1995, Shogakukan, ISBN 4091910629)
- Volume 3 (August 1995, Shogakukan, ISBN 4091910637)
- Volume 4 (August 1995, Shogakukan, ISBN 4091910645)
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Staff
- Original Story: Mitsuru AdachiMitsuru Adachiis a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from Gunma Prefectural Maebashi Commercial High School in 1969, Adachi worked as an assistant for Isami Ishii. He made his manga debut in 1970 with Kieta Bakuon, based on a manga originally created by Satoru Ozawa...
- Director: Kunihiko YuyamaKunihiko Yuyama' is a Japanese director of anime films, television, and video series. His best-known work involves Pokémon productions. Other anime he has directed include Kimagure Orange Road: Summer's Beginning, Plawres Sanshiro, Wedding Peach, and the adult-oriented Weather Report Girl.Developing an interest...
- Screenplay: Toshimichi Saeki
- Character Designer: Tokuhiro Matsubara
- Music: Hiroya Watanabe
- Production: YoumexYoumexwas an anime production company and record label established in 1985 as a subsidiary of Toshiba EMI and founded by Junji Fujita...
, TohoTohois a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
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Songs
Opening theme- Lyrics: Gorō MatsuiGoro Matsuiis a Japanese lyricist born 11 December 1957 in Gifu Prefecture, Japan, though he considers Tokyo to be his hometown. Beginning with participation in the Yamaha Popular Song Contests, he made his debut writing the lyrics for the 1981 Chage and Aska album ....
- Composer: Nobuhide Saki
- Arrangement: Takeshi Fujii, Yoshiyuki Sahashi
- Vocals: Nobuhide Saki
Ending theme
- "Only for You"
- Lyrics: Gorō Matsui
- Composer: Nobuhide Saki
- Arrangement: Takeshi Fujii, Yoshiyuki Sahashi
- Vocals: Nobuhide Saki
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Soundtrack
A soundtrack CD (TYCY-5157, ¥3000) was released on 27 March 1991.- Only for You
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